Our First Christmas Tree
by PeetasAndHerondales
Summary: Modern day AU. Katniss and Peeta buy their first Christmas tree after moving in together. They soon discover that this can turn out to be more difficult than they thought it would...


It was our first holiday together, and living together was hard. Peeta was obviously the perfect boyfriend, but sometimes that just made me feel like I could live a hundred lifetimes and never deserve him. Every day he would wake up at the crack of Satan's ass to make breakfast for me and then go to work at the bakery so that by the time I woke up a few hours later to go hunting, everything would be ready. And then later on, I would get home from hunting, and lunch would be ready too. We did get to make dinner together, however. I would bring home meat, and he would bring bread from the bakery. Today was different, however, for we had an argument during lunchtime.

"Katniss, I want it to be real," Peeta began as he picked at his food.

"Forget it. I don't want to deal with that," I argued, taking a huge bite of wild turkey leg.

"But _Katniss," _he whined.

"But nothing, Peeta. It's too messy."

"I just want to see what it's like for you." He set down his fork, looking at me seriously.

"Then go the fuck outside and see for yourself," I snapped impatiently, pointing at the woods with my turkey leg.

He sighed and stood up abruptly, tightening his lips as he walked towards the window. He was mad at me, but he had gotten on my nerves. "It's not the same," Peeta finally said softly after a moment, turning to me with a heartbroken gaze

Un-fucking-believable. He did _not _just use the freaking puppy face on me. He _knew _I couldn't say no to that. "Peeta, it's not worth it being real. I just think we need to get a fake Christmas tree. It's much less of a hassle if you ask me."

"But just imagine how _wonderful _it would smell…"

"It's a fucking pine tree; I'll get you a pine-scented candle for Christmas."

"Easy for you to say, you spend all day in the woods," he pouted.

"Well, _excuse me _for not working at a bakery." I rolled my eyes at him as I sucked on my fingers after I finished eating.

"Yeah, well next time I'll bring you a cupcake-scented candle instead of an actual cupcake and we'll see how _that _makes you feel."

"Oh, for Pete's sake, just buy the goddamn tree!" I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation; there was just no arguing with this man.

His face brightened up instantly as he grabbed me by the elbow to drag me out the door, and before I knew it, we were out on the road to go buy a Christmas tree. "This is going to be so much fun Katniss, you'll love it," he said excitedly as he gripped the steering wheel.

I rolled my eyes. "If I see pine needles all over the floor…"

"Nah, I'm sure it'll be fine. And if there are, I'll clean it up."

"You said the same thing about us getting a cat, but there were still hair balls all over our house," I pointed out.

"That's different, and Buttercup didn't mean to puke on your father's hunting jacket!"

"Yeah, well I'm glad Prim has that stupid cat now, or I would have drowned it or maybe even cooked it for dinner."

"Honestly, Katniss, what is it with you killing everything? Your sister Prim is the exact opposite. She _heals _animals."

"That's what we do. You bake. I hunt. Prim takes in puking animals."

Peeta chuckled. "I love you."

"Shut up," I grinned.

When we arrived at the Christmas tree farm, we saw that the parking lot was full, and we had to wait for five minutes for a family of seven to load up their kids and make sure their Christmas tree was well tied to their minivan before they pulled out. We parked and got out of the car as we walked towards the entrance, where we were greeted by one of the managers, Haymitch Abernathy, the town drunk.

"Well, well, look who's here." Haymitch grinned. "I knew you two would come by eventually."

I scowled at him. "Oh yeah, what made you think that?"

Peeta frowned at me and turned towards Haymitch. "What Katniss meant to say is that I finally convinced her to buy a live tree."

Haymitch smirked, "I think I have just the thing for you two; follow me."

I rolled my eyes as Haymitch led us through an endless maze of trees until he finally stopped in front of a medium-sized pine tree that seemed like a perfect fit for our apartment. "Whaddaya think?" Haymitch asked, pointing up at the tree.

"I think it's just what we came looking for, isn't it, Katniss?" Peeta was delighted.

"Yeah, yeah, let's just buy it and get out of here; it's freezing cold," I said impatiently, clinging to my flimsy green sweater. I cursed myself for not bringing my father's hunting jacket.

"Well don't get your panties in a twist, sweetheart. I found you a good tree in record time!" Haymitch exclaimed.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Abernathy. We'll take it," Peeta said before I could flip Haymitch off for talking to me like that. Not even Peeta called me sweetheart; he knew better than that.

"Excellent!" Haymitch said as he rounded up his workers to help us load the tree on top of our car while counting up the cash that Peeta had given him.

Soon our tree was tied up on top of our car, and Peeta and I were on our way back home. I cranked up the heat as I shivered, while Peeta sang along to the Christmas music playing on the radio. I tried not to wince; he was horribly off-key, but I loved him too much to tell him so. After a while I felt my phone vibrate inside of my jeans pocket, and I pulled it out to see that my little sister Prim was calling me.

"Hello?" I turned down the music so that I could hear her better.

"Hey Katniss, I need to ask you a huge favor," Prim began.

"Well, don't even ask me how I'm doing," I said dryly.

"I'm sorry Sis, it's just that I'm in a big hurry," she said anxiously. "Rory just won tickets to Florida, and we have to leave soon if we want to catch our plane. I was wondering if you could take Buttercup in for the next two weeks until we come back."

"What?" I exclaimed. "You're going to Florida with your boyfriend, and you want me to take care of your stupid cat? What even—"

"We'll do it," Peeta said loud enough that so that Prim could hear him from the other side of the phone.

"Oh that's great, thanks so much guys, I'll be at your place in an hour!" And then she hung up the phone.

I gaped at Peeta incredulously. "What the fuck, Peeta?"

He sighed. "Look Katniss, I think you should be happy for your sister. She's going on vacation, and she just needs you to watch the cat that _we _gave her until she gets back from her trip. It's no big deal. I'll look after him myself if you don't want to do it."

I groaned. "Well great, thanks for making me feel like a dickbag."

Peeta turned to me in frustration, "Katniss, I wasn't _trying _to—"

"Peeta, watch out!" I screamed as I saw a massive trailer truck coming straight towards us.

"Oh shit!" he cursed as he turned the steering wheel abruptly before it could hit us, but unfortunately, the same could not be said for our tree. In the midst of all the madness, it had fallen off of the roof of our car and had been run over by the same trailer truck that had just been about to kill us. "Our Christmas tree!" Peeta exclaimed as he ran out of the car to inspect the damage.

I got out of the car right behind him and saw that there was nothing but broken tree branches left. "I told you we should have gone to Wal-Mart to buy a fake Christmas tree," was the first thing I said.

Peeta clenched his jaw at me in rage, but then he took a good look at me, and his expression changed from anger to worry in a matter of seconds as he ran up to me. "Katniss, you're bleeding, are you okay?" he asked as he cupped my face and ran his thumb across my forehead to show me that there was indeed blood there.

"What's your name?"

"Katniss Everdeen." I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm 24 years old. I live two hours away from New York City with my boyfriend, Peeta Mellark. I have a 20-year-old sister who thinks she can just go to Florida with her boyfriend and leave me with her stupid cat. We bought a stupid live tree and almost died in a car accident. I'm not dead. I should be dead. Why the fuck am I not dead…" I ranted off.

"Maybe I should take you to the hospital…"

"No way, I hate doctors!"

"Your mom is a doctor, maybe I can take you to her."

"My mother is no exception; I'll be fine, Peeta," I said as I wiped the blood off my brow with my sleeve. It didn't even hurt that bad. I did feel a bit dizzy, but I didn't want Peeta to fuss over me even more than he was already doing. "Let's just go home."

"Okay, we'll buy another tree later."

"Today is the last day to buy a tree there."

"I know, we'll go to Wal-Mart and buy a fake tree, just like you said," he said urgently as he kissed my lips softly. "I just want you to be okay," he stroked my hair gently as we stood on the side of the road. I wanted to complain about the cold, but I had already been acting bitchy all day, and Peeta was doing the best that he could.

"No, Peeta, we've made it this far, we might as well go buy another damn live tree. I'm sure Haymitch will find us another one and give us a discount or something if we tell him what happened."

"Are you sure?" he asked worriedly, inspecting my minor injury. "Maybe you got a concussion; you're acting so strange…"

"Peeta, do you want us to have a fucking tree or not?" I scowled.

He grinned. "That's my Katniss. Okay, we'll head back to the farm, but if you start to feel sick, or dizzy, or in pain…"

"Peeta, I'm fine."

"Okay, okay, let's go." He helped me get back into the car and then took his place behind the steering wheel as we drove back to the Christmas tree farm.

When we arrived, almost all of the trees were gone, and it took us even longer to find a parking spot because there were so many cars. By the time we found a parking spot, Peeta decided that I should wait for him in the car "for my own safety," but I just scowled at him and informed him that I was neither a child nor disabled and I could get out of the car if I damn well wanted to. Finally, he sighed and I went back in with him.

"Well, look who is back!" Haymitch exclaimed as soon as he saw us. "Ooh, what's that nasty scratch you got there, sweetheart?" he asked me, pointing up at my forehead.

"We almost got hit by a tractor trailer and we lost our tree," Peeta explained sadly. "And Katniss got injured in the process, but she says she's ok."

"That's too bad," Haymitch said sympathetically, and then he took a large gulp from his flask thoughtfully. "Tell you what, kids. I'll give you a fifty-percent discount on whatever tree you pick out. There aren't very many left, so I suggest you choose one quickly."

"Do you have any suggestions?" I asked hopefully.

"We'll take anything," Peeta added.

Haymitch rubbed his scratchy chin in thought. "Eh, I think I got one that you may like, but it might be too big."

"We'll take a look at it," I said.

"Follow me," Haymitch said as he led us towards the back of the farm, stopping in front of an extremely tall tree.

"That might be a bit too big for our apartment…" Peeta began.

"No, I'm sure it'll be fine," I argued.

"But Katniss…"

"I'll take fifty bucks for it," Haymitch said.

"Deal," I shook his hand and handed him the money before Peeta could say anything else.

Soon, we had the giant Christmas tree loaded up on our car and we were on our way back home for the second time. Peeta kept muttering things about me losing my mind, but otherwise didn't argue. We arrived home safely and asked some of our neighbors to help us unload it and shove it through our doorway. Unfortunately, no matter how much we tried, we could _not _get it to squeeze in through the doorway, much less stand upright, since it was so tall.

"You may need to saw off part of the top, dude," one of our neighbors, Finnick, said.

"I have a handy ax just for that," our friend Johanna offered.

"Katniss, what is going on?" I turned around to see Prim walking towards our apartment, holding Buttercup's cage in one hand and Rory's hand in the other.

"We're trying to get the Christmas tree inside of the house," Peeta explained in frustration, shooting glares at me. "Katniss just _had _to buy the biggest Christmas tree they had."

"You're the one who wanted a freaking live tree in the first place!"

"Yeah but then I agree to get a fake cheap one at Wal-Mart, like you wanted!"

"I was trying to please _you! _You're fucking impossible!"

"You're the one who's impossible to please!" Peeta yelled out in frustration.

"How about we all help you guys fix the tree so you can keep it?" Rory suggested shyly.

"Yeah, we'll help you guys chop some of it off, like Johanna suggested," Finnick added helpfully.

"Alright, let's go out into the backyard," Peeta agreed as he, Rory, Johanna, and Finnick dragged the tree back outside.

"Well, that was interesting," Prim commented as she and I stepped into the house.

"Ugh, Peeta and I have been arguing about that stupid tree all damn day," I said as Prim released Buttercup from his cage while I went into the kitchen to start the coffee pot.

"Yeah, I can tell," she said amused. "You guys don't usually fight in front of everybody like that."

"It's not funny, Prim."

"I think you two are just _adorable."_

"Shut up. Don't you and your boyfriend have a plane to catch soon?"

"Yeah, in a few hours. But I wanted to stick around for a little while longer to watch you and Peeta bicker like an old married couple. And plus Rory is helping you guys with the tree."

"We are _not _an old married couple." I stuck my tongue out at her like a child.

Prim laughed. "Yeah I know; if this is how you are now, imagine how you will be then!"

I blushed and quickly changed the subject; I wasn't sure if I was ready to marry Peeta yet, but I knew that I would someday. I told Prim about our near car-accident and the reason we had bought a tree that was too big for our house, and she laughed and fussed over my injury until I let her treat it with a liquid Band-Aid. She said it made her feel like a _real medical student_. Prim and I talked back and forth for a while as we drank our coffee, and soon, Peeta and the others were back with the tree. "What do you think, Brainless?" Johanna asked me as the men arranged the tree in the corner of the living room.

I grinned. "It looks great, Jo. You guys did a good job."

"Yeah, thanks for helping us out," Peeta added gratefully.

I offered everyone some coffee, but they all had to get going on their plans. Prim and Rory announced that they had to catch their plane, and I hugged my sister goodbye and wished everyone a Merry Christmas as they left. "I think it's time I bake some cookies," Peeta said as I took out the ornaments to decorate our tree.

"You're not gonna help me decorate?" I asked.

"Of course I am. I just had the dough and everything ready already, so I just need to put the cookies in the oven, and then I can come help you," he explained.

"Are you still mad at me?" I bit my lip.

"Of course not, love. We bicker all the time, and everything always works out in the end, does it not?" He leaned in to give me a kiss, and I greedily sucked on his bottom lip before letting him go.

"Mmm, you're going to be the end of me," he teased. "I'll tell you what. Once we finish decorating the tree, we can have hot make-up sex underneath it. What do you say?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and I laughed.

"Is that a promise?"

"You bet it is," he winked at me as he went into the kitchen, and I turned back to my decorating. I put on some Christmas music and began singing along to it as I worked, shooing Buttercup away every time he tried to play with one of the ornaments.

Soon, Peeta was back, and he helped me finish decorating the tree, helping me sing along even though he was always off-tune. I laughed at him, and he pretended to look hurt before continuing to sing along even louder just to annoy me. "Oh, you're awful," I teased him.

"Well _excuse me, _but we can't all have angelic voices like you."

"Oh, stop," I scoffed.

"OH YOU'D BETTER WATCH OUT, YOU'D BETTER NOT CRY! YOU'D BETTER NOT POUT, I'M TELLING YOU WHY! SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN! SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN! SANTA CLAUS—"

I cut him off with a kiss just to make him shut up, and he kissed me back passionately before informing me that Santa had checked his list twice, and I was _definitely _on the naughty list. "What's Santa gonna do about it?" I smirked.

"He told me to spank you like the naughty girl you are," he said as he did just that, before kneading my ass.

"He _did not." _I laughed as we fell down on the floor beneath the Christmas tree, tugging at each other's clothes impatiently. "Ugh, Peeta, that sweater is so _ugly_," I giggled as I pulled it over his head.

"That's kind of the point of an ugly Christmas sweater, Katniss."

"You're such a dork," I added as he began shaking his hips to _Jingle Bell Rock _while he unbuckled his belt.

"You think I'm sexy," he said confidently as I pulled off my shirt and reached behind me to unclasp my bra while he pulled down his pants. "Do you want to unwrap me now, or later?"

"Yes, I do, and now would be perfect." I replied as he helped me tug off my own pants and socks.

"Guess what I got you for Christmas, Katniss?"

"What?"

"It's my dick in a box!" he sang as he pulled down his boxers.

"_Oh my god," _I burst into a fit of hysterics as his cock popped out. Peeta pulled down my underwear with a mischievous look on his face. Before I could make another sound, he bent down to make a trail of kisses down from my lips to my hips, bending his head towards my crotch before spreading my legs wide and pinning down my knees with his elbows, leaving me completely exposed to him. "Good girl," he said wickedly.

He licked my folds and I shrieked out in surprise as I held his head closer, clutching his blonde curls as his tongue lapped at me expertly. He slid his tongue up and down my slit before attaching his mouth to my clit, nibbling on it as I thrashed and screamed and thrust my hips towards his face. "_UGH, PEEE-EEE-TTT-AAAH!_" I cried out as I grinded onto his mouth.

My spine tingled and I shivered and moaned as I felt the heat of his tongue engulf my center. I begged him not to stop, but he paused momentarily to kiss me on the lips so that I could taste myself. He then thrust two fingers inside of my entrance, and I bucked my hips and rode them hard before he reattached his lips back to my clit.

"Oh baby, please make me come," I gasped out as I pinched my breasts.

Peeta moaned at the sight, and he devoured me with renewed vigor, his golden head shining bright under the Christmas tree lights. He suckled loudly on my clit and fucked me with his fingers, and before I knew it I saw stars as I felt that tingling feeling in my lower abdomen build up until I exploded. I was crying out for mercy and couldn't stand the stimulation anymore, so I pushed his head away as he grinned at me and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before sucking on his fingers.

Ice began to fall down steadily on the roof as Peeta told me how good I tasted; how bad he wanted me. I took his cock in my hand in desperation and begged him to fuck me already. "With pleasure," he said huskily before thrusting into me completely so that he was sheathed inside me to the hilt.

I wrapped my legs around his waist as we began to build a fast and frantic rhythm, my lips attaching to his as his hot, wet tongue stroked my own. He fucked me mercilessly, his cock thrusting in and out of me to the beat of the ice splattering down on the roof, as if he were competing with it. As the ice began to fall down faster and harder on the roof, Peeta increased his own speed, his hips slamming into me as he drove into me madly. His eyes were dark with lust and his breathing was labored as I kissed him breathlessly. My nails dug into his slick shoulders as I tried to hang on for dear life, screaming his name until my throat was sore every time he bit my nipple or stroked my clit with his thick fingers.

"Oh Peeta, yesss, just like that, oh my fucking _gawd_, I'm gonna come, I'm gonna come!"

"Argh, me too, come for me, Katniss," he gasped into my ear as he drove into me faster and faster, his fingers rubbing my clit in rapid circles.

I came so hard I felt like I was having a seizure, my walls clenching his cock until he spilled into me completely, both of us lying boneless on the floor as Peeta collapsed right beside me. "Ah, fuck, that was so hot, Katniss." Peeta said.

"Meow!" we heard Buttercup leaping towards us from the kitchen and that's when I smelled it: the burnt cookies.

"Peeta, I think our kitchen might be on fire," I said softly, and I saw the blood draining from his face as it filled with dread.

"Well, shit!" he cried out as Buttercup jumped right into the tree, and the last thing I saw was the fear in Peeta's eyes before the tree collapsed right on top our naked bodies. I screamed and shielded my face with my hands just before Peeta covered me with his own body, but the impact made us both cry out in pain. I heard Peeta whimper and then shove the tree to the side so that it was no longer on top of us. "Katniss, baby, are you ok?" he asked me in concern.

"Ugh, that stupid cat! I'm going to cook it for dinner and feed it to the rats!" I screamed in frustration. Peeta started laughing, but then he started coughing and we both stood up and ran into the kitchen, which had black smoke coming out of it. Peeta made me run the other direction as I began coughing violently, and soon I heard the sound of the fire extinguisher, and minutes later, a naked, soot-covered Peeta came out of the kitchen, and I burst out laughing.

"Oh my god, Peeta!"

"The firemen will be here soon; put on some clothes," was all he said, and I stifled my laughter as we got dressed quickly.

When the firemen finally arrived, they told us not to leave the oven on anymore and that for some reason, our live tree was ruined. By that point, Peeta and I weren't surprised. "This day has been fucking insane," Peeta muttered as he held me tightly while we stood out in the cold. "You were right. We should have just bought a fake tree at Wal-Mart like everyone else."

I laughed. "Peeta, it's okay. If anything, this day has proven that Christmas is not just about the tree or the presents or the cookies. We're both alive, and we still have each other," I kissed him gently on the lips. "I wouldn't trade any of this for the world."

"Who are you and what have you done to my Grinch of a girlfriend?" he teased.

I slapped him playfully on the chest. "Oh shush, you know that I love you."

"And I love you more," he kissed me again, and we heard Buttercup mewling annoyingly behind us. That damn cat had more than nine lives.

"I'll still cook you," I said as he hissed at me. And Peeta laughed.

_The end. _

**A/N- **_As always, I would like to thank everyone for reading, and to my wonderful beta, court81981, for her super speedy beta skills. To sponsormusings for putting up with me, and to Angylinni and msdisdain for running this challenge and working hard to make sure everything ran smoothly . And to everyone who participated in the secret santa challenge. I had so much fun writing for you._


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